Definitions Flashcards
Denotation
What a picture is/what you can physically see
Semiotics
Deeper meanings - the study of signs (what is denoted or connoted by a scene)
Connotation
What is thought/felt when a picture is seen
Negotiated reading
When the audience and creators of a media text have mixed opinions on the meaning of the media text
Preferred/dominant reading
The reading of the text that the creators mean to represent - audience get the same reading
Oppositional reading
Audience have a different opinion of what is meant by a media text compared to what the creators intended
Ideology
A set of values and beliefs that guide our lives
Anchorage
When a media text makes itself appear to mean a certain thing
Juxtaposition
Contrasting opposites
Mode of address
How a media text draws in the readers attention
Mise-en-scene
Everything that is put into a shot - props, lighting, cinematography etc.
High production values
When a media text is expensive to make (mainstream films)
Low production values
When a media text is cheap to make (independent films)
Hybrid genre
A mixture between two genres to create its own genre e.g. Romcom
Independent cinema
Low budget, less recognised
Mainstream cinema
High budget,well known
Cinematography
Category for editing, use of camera shots and angles to make film/tv shows
Representation
How media represents aspects of everyday life
High key lighting
Bright lighting, usually for important characters or bright settings
Low key lighting
Darker lighting, usually for inferior characters or dark settings
Verisimilitude
A sense of reality
Desaturated colour
Dark, dull colours e.g. Black/grey
Montage sequence
Quite short lengths of clips and pictures put together
Contrapuntal sound
Sound that doesn’t match the images they are with
Parallel sound
Sound that matches the tone of the images
Narrative enigma
A question the audience asks of a media text and expect it to be answered
Binary oppositions
Opposites that drive a narrative e.g. Good and bad
Demographics
The people who a show is aimed at based on characteristics
Psychographics
The people who a show is aimed at based on needs
Socio-economic categories
Where someone is positioned in society depending on the amount of money they have. Categorises consumers by occupation
Hegemony
Traditional/dominant ideologies in society
Pluralist
Multiculturalism, ideologies that have no preference
Stereotype
Traits you expect/attribute to a certain group
